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    Football Is Dying in Ohio. A Coach in This County Made It Thrive.

    MARIA STEIN, Ohio — About a mile past St. John the Baptist Church and across the street from a grain elevator stands the heart and soul of this small, western Ohio community: Marion Local High School. The sons and daughters of farmers, tradesmen, engineers and small-business owners inhabit its hallways and spill onto its playing […] More

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    The Cowboys Look for Their Offense Against the Bears

    The rest of Week 14’s game previews will be published on Friday. Cowboys at Bears, 8:20 p.m., Fox and NFL Network Line: Cowboys -3 | Total: 42.5 As far as votes of confidence go, Jerry Jones saying, “In my opinion, Jason Garrett will be coaching in the N.F.L. next year,” during a radio interview on […] More

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    Did FIFA Accidentally Confirm a World Cup Bribery Scandal?

    Confirmation of one of the worst scandals in soccer history appears to be sitting in plain sight, published last week on the website of FIFA, the sport’s global governing body. The admission exists in a couple of lines referencing three notorious former soccer officials, dropped casually into a long decision justifying the lifetime ban of […] More

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    The Best N.F.L. Trade of the Season? Look to Pittsburgh.

    PITTSBURGH — Minkah Fitzpatrick has always known that playing well gives him options. When he received dozens of scholarship offers in high school, he elected to play at Alabama because it was where he would develop most quickly. Then after his junior season, when the Crimson Tide won the second national title of his tenure […] More

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    Rob Gronkowski Will Not Return for Patriots’ Playoff Run

    Rob Gronkowski really is retired, at least for this season. The former New England Patriots tight end had dangled the possibility of returning to the N.F.L. almost as soon as he announced his retirement in March, a month after he helped the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII. Despite a long […] More

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    Megan Rapinoe Wins Ballon d’Or as World’s Best Player

    PARIS — Megan Rapinoe won the Ballon d’Or as soccer’s women’s player of the year after leading the United States to the World Cup title in July. Rapinoe scored six goals in the tournament, earning the Golden Boot as the top scorer and the Golden Ball as the top player. Lucy Bronze of England finished […] More

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    What We Learned in N.F.L. Week 13

    It would be hard to draw up a weirder Sunday than one in which the Miami Dolphins, the Washington Redskins and the Cincinnati Bengals all won, while the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers lost. The surprising victories by the league’s lesser teams provided plenty of entertainment, but Week 13 was all about […] More